Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Higher Education Advisory Council Indigenous Leaders Forum Growing an Indigenous professional workforce: the national agenda for change Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mathematics Alliance National Conference 10 November 2014 Professor Ian Anderson Co-Chair Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Higher Education Advisory Council

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Higher Education Advisory Council

ATSIHEAC policy development framework 1.Broadening access across the disciplines 2.Whole of University Strategy 3.Academic Workforce 4.Sustainable financing 5.System level performance monitoring

Broadening participation across the disciplines 11% of Indigenous people are employed in professional occupations, compared to 20% of non-Indigenous people Most common occupation group for employed people: For Indigenous people - Labourer (24%) For non-Indigenous people - Professional (20%) Drawn from Census data 2006 and 2011

Indigenous enrolments in STEM disciplines Field of education Indigenous enrolments 2013 Growth since 2005 Proportion of total enrolments in this field Parity target Natural & Physical Sciences %0.67%2,896 Information Technology19749%0.38%1,411 Engineering & Related Technologies %0.37%2,641 Mathematical Sciences24300%0.55%119

Indigenous completions in STEM disciplines Field of education Indigenous completions 2013 Growth since 2005 Proportion of total completions in this field Parity target Natural & Physical Sciences 8570%0.39%593 Information Technology22144%0.19%314 Engineering & Related Technologies 3584%0.19%494 Mathematical Sciences<550%0.32%25

Source: Thomson, S. et al 2014, Indigenous Student Performance on Standardised Tests, (draft report to ATSIHEAC) Student performance on standardised tests Standardised tests: PISA, TIMMS, PIRLS, NAPLAN Indigenous students achieve well below non-Indigenous (by between 1.5 and 1.0 standard deviations) Little change in the gap over time Differences evident in Year 3 & remain until Year 9 or age 15

Source: Thomson, S. et al 2014, Indigenous Student Performance on Standardised Tests, (draft report to ATSIHEAC) PISA 2012 science literacy proficiency

Source: Thomson, S. et al 2014, Indigenous Student Performance on Standardised Tests, (draft report to ATSIHEAC) PISA 2012 mathematical literacy proficiency

Source: Thomson, S. et al 2014, Indigenous Student Performance on Standardised Tests, (draft report to ATSIHEAC) NAPLAN Numeracy proficiency No change in % of Indigenous students at or above national minimum standard in Years 3, 5 & 7, decrease in Year 9 Some positive change in mean scores for all students in Years 3 & 5 in jurisdictions with higher proportion Indigenous students, but not significant for Indigenous students. Indigenous students made gains from Year 3 to Year 7 & from Year 5 to Year 9 similar to non-Indigenous students.

Source: Thomson, S. et al 2014, Indigenous Student Performance on Standardised Tests, (draft report to ATSIHEAC) TIMSS mathematics proficiency 1995 to 2011 Year 4 Over 50% of Indigenous students didn’t reach Intermediate benchmark 28% of Indigenous students didn’t reach Low benchmark Year 8 1% of Indigenous students achieved Advanced benchmark 9% of non-Indigenous students achieved Advanced benchmark 32% of Indigenous students didn’t reach Low benchmark 9% of non-Indigenous students didn’t reach Low benchmark No change in Indigenous student performance 1995 to 2011

The gap in STEM proficiency & participation persists over time Better school retention & general performance are not sufficient to effect real change on their own A national approach to Indigenous STEM is required The national challenge

ATSIHEAC STEM Roundtable: Collaborate with Deans of STEM Leverage the national policy agenda Chief Scientist’s push for a sensible debate on the future Incremental change is not sufficient for Indigenous Australia Building a national approach to Indigenous STEM A national Indigenous STEM agenda

Supporting student success [Ian: do you have an image we could use in this slide – one of students doing STEM- related studies - one that you have permission to use?]